Woolly wether to star in show

Wether eye: Hamish Murray has nicknamed his runaway merino wether the Watcher, the name Captain Cook gave to Mt Tapuae-o-Uenuku, the highest mountain in Marlborough.

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A merino wether from the backcountry below Mt Tapuae-o-Uenuku will star at the Marlborough A&P Show on Saturday.

The 140th annual show opens at the Marlborough Showgrounds in Blenheim at 7.30am tomorrow.

High country farmer Hamish Murray will bring the wether with three years of wool to the show for shearing by Kaikoura MP Colin King.

The sheep and his fleece will be sold and the money donated to the Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter, which plucked Mr Murray off a hillside on Bluff Station near Kekerengu when he was seriously injured in March.

Mr Murray's last memory before waking in Wellington Hospital is seeing his parked truck rolling backwards. He assumes he reached inside to pull on the handbrake and was caught up in the door when it rolled, ending up 20m down the bank.

A farm worker raised the alarm and two or three hours after the accident the Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter dropped him at Wellington Hospital, where he was treated for a dislocated hip and wrist, broken arm and severe cuts to his head and knee.

He was back farming in July.

"The Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter service is incredible, especially for isolated places like ours when the response time to an accident is critical," he said.

He found the wether on his station and decided it would make a good fundraiser for the service.

Mr King, a former shearer, agreed to take the fleece off, which will happen near the PGG Wrightson marquee about 1.30pm on Saturday.